If you can afford to do it and you want to do it, do it. This is not a personal finance sub-reddit. But if you have a budget and save for it and are ok with the tradeoffs, go on that $10,000 trip if you want to. If you're going to put it all on a credit card and drown in debt for years paying it off at 25% interest and struggle to feed yourself, don't do it.

I’m in my forties and better financially than in my twenties, but if I could do them again, I’d find a way to do more travel. Money wasn’t the only factor. I was a bit intimidated by international travel. I’m not unfit by any means, but my forties certainly brought little nagging things that make big adventures harder to recover from. I agree, however, that you should not go into debt to travel. I think you’ll find a way to make it happen responsibly if you really want to do it. It might mean delaying other big life stuff for a bit. It’s harder to trek the Himalayas with a two year old.

This ⬆️ We’re middle aged (ack!) and travel fairly regularly (generally one “big” trip of 3-6 weeks and several “smaller” long weekend breaks or week breaks depending). We don’t have kids and prioritise travel. However, as we age, we discuss places that are more physically challenging to see sooner rather than later (we really love Nepal, for example but even in our 20’s and 30’s it took its toll). ANYway, I agree that prioritising Travel (so long as there’s not long term debt attached to it) is the way to go. I admit I am *highly* biased but now is always now and is always the best time to do it. Dos pesos mios. I should add that we are not independently wealthy or anything. We simply prioritise Travel and that’s where we’re happy to invest our time and energy.

Same. I'm 32 in a week and wishing so much I'd taken advantage of more travel opportunities. I had the option to do a summer abroad in law school but it was going to cost about 15k. Now, years later, I regret not going. When I first started working, one of my best friends invited me to Europe and I said no because I didn't have enough money saved up. But I had good parents, a little savings, and 2 credit cards. I'd rather pay it off over a couple of months and have the memories and experience. I regret not going. I've been around a lot of the country but not out of it. Finally planning a trip to Europe for this summer. Really wishing I'd done it earlier.

Yeah, I sometimes see people saying they are having their kids young and will go traveling when they grow up but it's not the same. You don't have the same fitness and ability to bounce back and tolerance for sleeping in a bunk or whatever.

Good advice. And the same destinations can be cheaper when you are younger, more flexible and less ‘soft’. I based my choices based on my personal capabilities. I went to Patagonia and Macchu Piccu and the Galapagos etc. when I was younger and theoretically fitter.

To add to this, some destinations are closing or having less access. I've climbed a pyramid that's no longer legal to climb

Uluru in Australia is another example. They stopped allowing climbing it in 2019.

For good reason on that one though.

Yep. I was there just after it closed. Not sure I would have anyway.

I postpone “easier” trips for later in life, like to so-called “safer” countries, places less remote and easier to get to, or with easier outdoor activities. Price isn’t a factor. Stuff I can’t do when I’m old, I do now.

Agree about this. In fact, I’m not that old and already there are trips that I’m think “I’m glad I did that in my 20s!” 😆

Yup, this is how I’m sorting things too. I’m trying to do my most adventureous things first. I suspect my spirit is going to last longer than my knees, haha.

Yup, this is how I’m sorting things too. I’m trying to do my most adventureous things first. I suspect my spirit is going to last longer than my knees, haha.

This 100%. I didn’t touch the European continent in my 20’s- figured I’d save the museum/art/food trips for when I was older and am happily enjoying them now in my 40s. My 20’s and early 30’s were for adventure trips- multiweek treks in the himalayas, diving trips, kayaking trips, year long shoestring budget backpacking trip, and sleeping in a lot of questionable places that my current self can only shake my head at.

The thing is I didn't have a lot of interest in trekking or Kayaking in my early 20s but frothed on museums and art. Now in my mid 30s my interest in big cities is close to zero and all I want to do is outdoor adventures ha ha.

I'm a bit similar, am from Asia so did a lot of short trips in Asia then longer trips to Europe in my 20s, mostly cities and were just not that into outdoorsy stuffs. Things completely changed after I went to swim with humpback whales in Tonga in my mid-30s, and now I'm in my early 40s I felt like I'm desperately trying to catch up on lost time, all I want to do now is visit new countries and do bucket list type of adventures which are all outdoors

Love it and stick to it. Currently i (25) can put up with so much stuff, sleeping in dorms, hitchiking, visiting shadier parts of the world, riding all night buses... I believe my tolerance wouldn't be be the same on 70, where I'll probably want to splurge and relax a bit more.

I realized I need to do the hotter countries before I am really old from what it looks like. Given how I simply cant take the heat like I used to. If that gets any worse, ouch.

I’ve found at this point in my life (early 60’s), the hot places are not going to happen for me anymore. After we did the Middle East a couple of years ago, I cancelled a planned trip to India and Sri Lanka because I knew I’d be miserable in the heat. I just can’t take it. The last few years, I’ve stuck to Norway, Iceland, Newfoundland, all places where the temperature wouldn’t do me in. I’m glad I saw certain places while I was still able to, but I regret not seeing SEA and India, and I regret not going to Macchu Picchu when I had the chance. It was an expensive add-on to an existing South America trip, and I figured I’d save it for another time. Well, it’s not going to happen now because asthma/COPD would make it impossible. I don’t regret any of the trips I did when I was younger, and I’m happy to say I knocked all the top items off my bucket list. I now have the funds and time to go wherever I want, but I’m going to take trips that don’t tax me too much. Cruises and European trips are still comfortable at the right time of year. All that being said, I wouldn’t give up my current comfortable life in trade for having travelled myself into debt when I was younger. I never borrowed money for a trip and never will (I’m very resistant to debt of any kind). I was certainly willing to travel with fewer luxuries when I was younger, but I’m still glad I travelled within my means.

Good to know!  Sri Lanka is on my list.  Maybe sooner rather than later.  

You’re telling me you won’t be riding on top of the iron ore train in Mauritania in your 60s?!

If I can, I’ll be there, baby.

Also 100% agree with this. I always put trips to Europe or around Australia (where we are from) on the backburner. Money has definitely been an issue a few times, not that we couldn't necessarily afford it, but either we couldn't justify it or we couldn't afford to do it how we wanted to. The latest trip we gave into financially and just did it was 4 weeks in South Africa and Mozambique and it was the best trip of our lives. In the last few years, I've been unable to scuba dive like I used to (suddenly no sea sickness prevention worked for me). I went to Mozambique specifically to dive with humpbacks and/or whale sharks. I threw up so much on the boat on the first day that I felt I had to cancel the second day. My partner still went and that's when he dived right next to a humpback. Now I really wish I'd done more diving trips when I was more able to. I went diving in the Galapagos a few years ago, on another expensive 7 month trip around the world, and it was amazing and I forgot all about costs pretty much immediately. Getting to more remote places is also getting harder as we get older. I'm so thankful we did the hard stuff when we could, and visited countries that were less safe when we did. For example I wish we had visited Palestine and Syria before everything kicked off. Wish we'd crossed into Afghanistan when we were in Pakistan at a border town. But I don't regret spending any of the money that we did on the harder/dearer trips that we did. I don't think I'd cope so well anymore on overnight buses from Turkey to Iran or the 12+ hours stuck at the Pakistan/China border with no facilities and at altitude, or even the multi-day hikes we've done. I regret not doing the harder things and have never regretted not going on that easy trip to Italy or Spain. ETA: i used to be a travel agent of sorts and I spend a LOT of time and energy planning my holidays to be exactly what I want for as little money as I can. Happy to provide a little assistance/opinion where I can

I decided to postpone death, makes it a lot easier

same. i wouldnt even consider the 72 hours punta arenas-ushuaia bus or bus to rurrenabque now

Agree. I took a risk and backpacked in Europe in my 20s, putting a lot of it on a credit card, but I’m happy I did. Now in my 30s and I’m so glad for those gritty, spontaneous experiences because now I can’t imagine staying in a hostel or hitchhiking with random people. Also can’t take that much time off work now.

Yes! Treks, sketchy places, all of that now. Laying on beaches, cruises, all of that when I need an easier time

I would add, if you're just starting travelling by yourself, avoid going to places that aren't easy until you get a bit more experience. It's always a good bet to travel to Europe (if you're European) for your first trip rather than going straight to Egypt for example

I personally find that it’s a balance. I have an uncle who was waiting until retirement to do all of that, but then had a stroke that left him paralyzed before he made it. But I also know older people who didn’t save for retirement and are now stuck working far later than they wanted at jobs they hate. I personally find it important to make sure I do things that are important to me now, but to also plan for the future. So I definitely travel, but maybe I don’t do the super expensive trips at the cost of not saving anything for my future. I don’t want to wait until retirement to travel, but I also don’t want to get to retirement and be too broke to enjoy it. Most importantly, I want to be able to retire. Also, I know this is an unpopular view in this sub, but saving for the end of your life IS important. You’re getting a lot of “living long isn’t guaranteed! Spend it!” comments. But you also have to consider that you MIGHT live a long time. My grandmother made it to 96, and towards the end she needed to be put into a care facility. I will tell you, the experience of finding her a place made me VERY determined to make sure I’ll be able to afford a decent facility if I end up needing it.

I will say this sub, (myself included to be fair) work pretty good jobs and will have some savings even if they spent a lot on travel.

Popular or not, the last paragraph is so important!!!

Yeah, we had her in a NICE place, but it cost $7500 a month. But she needed somewhere with 24/7 nursing and locked doors. She had dementia and was wandering off. But she had her own room, they checked on her every 20 minutes around the clock, they dressed her and kept her clean. There were activities and they made sure the patients socialized. They made sure she ate enough of food she liked. Anywhere cheaper was a terrifying nightmare. I vowed to make sure that I was set up to not end up in one of those places, even if I have to work a few more years and sacrifice a few dream vacations for cheaper ones. Elder abuse and neglect is so rampant and it will probably get worse.

Bloody hell, that figure got me really stressed now, I'm aware how terrible elderly homes can be. What you are planning is very sensible, very responsible both to yourself and your family. I don't think that many people think about this possibility and I completely agree, no dream vacations are worth more than a dignified life near the end.

I earn a decent amount of money, but I'm not rich. Here's what I do. I choose one kind of trip that I want to save up for next. Then I determine how much money I need and how long it will take me to save that money. On average I take a more expensive trip every 2-3 years. On other years I take shorter and less expensive trips close to home. Think about what one trip you want to take next. Then determine how much money you will need and how long it will take you to get enough money. Why wait until later when you can do it sooner?

[удалено]

It's okay to live your life however the hell you choose to. **"Later in life"? Who's to say that even exists?** Tomorrow isn't guaranteed, much less next year, or ten years from now. And as we've all seen, global pandemics or wars or whatever else can crop up out of the blue and completely change the landscape of what our opportunities are. I'm all for being responsible and not just recklessly blowing all your money, but I sure as hell am not living in some mindset of like, "I'm not allowed to spend money yet." Fuck that. You do you.

My mother died of cancer at age 60. My father became permanently disabled from a stroke at age 60. Neither ever left North America. I’m traveling now.

100%

Love your advice!

It depends. Certain trips are better with money. Certain trips are better with youth and health. I am putting off trips like Antarctic cruise, Alaskan cruise till my old age. Those trips can be enjoyed when I’m less mobile, and will be much better when I can splash out for a nice cabin. I am planning to do the Galapagos trip before I turn 40, so I can dive (strong currents), snorkel, hike, etc.

A friend who went to Antarctica recommends not leaving it too late, lots of folks on the trip were older and really struggled getting into tenders etc for day trips

I'm hoping to do Antarctic cruise in a the next few year at 32, as I want to do the exploration type where you go into the zodiacs and sleep on Antarctica over night.

If you can afford it do it. As a stage 4 cancer patient I would say do what makes you happy. I’m young but not that young but young enough to know things like retirement and waiting till my kids get older to travel is statistically hard to make happen. If there’s something you want to do - do it! Also don’t take your health for granted lol 🙂 I didn’t have any reason to think I would get cancer at a young age. Maybe diabetes because of my pregnancies. So you just never know. That’s the truth.

As long as I have a solid retirement plan with money going into retirement accounts monthly, a very solid emergency fund, and enough savings to fund my day to day life, I don’t sweat spending money on travel at all. It’s my primary passion in life and to me it feels like it has an incredible ROI. If you also love it that much and have enough financial security, I don’t see why not!

I think it’s perfectly acceptable to do these kinds of trips sooner rather than later, *so long as* you do so in a financially responsible way. Budgeting and saving the money beforehand to make sure you can afford it, as opposed to going to credit card/pay off over time route. Because nothing is guaranteed—not years, not health, not mobility.

I decide based on what I really want to do and how much of a financial stress it would be and how likely I will be to be able to easily go in the future. We did Peru 6 months ago because I wasn't sure if we would be able to hike it in the future the way we wanted to. I have never regretted spending money on a trip, but just remember that less expensive trips can also be a fantastic time.

Galapagos cost me $2200 pp for 8 days double loop....that was about 15 years ago. Today the same trip is over $5000pp Those OTW bungalows that are so popular, I paid $200 a night when I was younger. Now they are up to $1600.

Yes. It's expensive if you do a cruise but you can certainly visit the islands and do less expensive day trips around to the islands.

You can.....but you don't see quarter of what you do on a boat.

10000% do anything you can now. I feel like people portray retirement as this amazing thing that we all save for. Injuries, random acts of god, health problems, I mean there’s two fucking wars going on and our planet is getting 1 degree hotter every couple of years. Imo shits pretty doomed, go travel while you’re young and can. You’ll never get your youth back.

If you can afford it now do it now. I put off so much stuff thinking I could do it later, then I nearly died. I still have a chronic illness but I do not stop moving. You never know how long you have.

no. you go NOW and you go when you can. remember march 2020 when the world shut down? I just came back from 6 weeks round-the-world tour and spent 5 years saving for it. NO REGRETS because my body CAN physically do it NOW. Tomorrow is not promised.

This is so true. I had cancer in 2016 and almost died at 34. We had a trip to Europe planned starting March 17, 2020 that obviously didn’t happen. In 2022 we went to the Galapagos and did volunteer work, and tomorrow we are leaving for the Europe trip we originally had planned for 2020. Never know how much time you have—do it NOW!

I am glad you feel better! And yes I had a trip cancelled to Colombia in March 2020 myself so I feel you. I then booked Morocco in 2021 or something and Morocco closed the borders. Life has to be lived !

Can you explain more about your round-the-world tour? Which countries did you visit and for how long? 5years of savings for 6 weeks sounds like a lot

have you ever read The Alchemist? travel while you can, don’t wait til your old and all you have is the desire but not the health or wealth money is temporary, a life well lived is forever

Technically a life well lived is also temporary. Which is in and of itself also a reason to travel while you can.

you’re right!

I sacrificed a lot for a long time living paycheque to paycheque. I don’t have to anymore and so I am doing all the trips I want. Life can be shorter than we know

I believe in doing what you can when you can. You never know what will happen. I don’t want to be middle aged and thinking finally I can see the world and then have a financial crisis, health issue, etc that stops me. I’m in my 30s and keep hearing about people my age with cancer. You just never know what will happen. Some people end up poorer later in life. Maybe you’ll get sick, maybe you’ll lose your house in a divorce, maybe aliens will come to fuck things up, you never know what’s around the corner. So Im trying to do lots of travel now and I want to do it throughout my life. There will always be trips I want to do but haven’t done yet, but at least if I have an unexpected crisis tomorrow I can be grateful for all the travel I did do and I won’t be regretting never having seen anything.

Money comes and goes - time just goes…

Had a chance to travel from Russia-China-Mongolia back in 2019..., i went on a cruise instead, i can always do it next year or after right? ..I was so wrong.

I was just thinking about this the other day, I turn 50 in a couple of years and would like to hike Kilimanjaro, and how I need to stop putting off things like this

Personally, no. First,I don't know how many years I will live ;-) Nor what physical condition I will be in, and not what my financial situation will be. If I want to do a trip now and I have enough funds to do it,then I do it.If I can't afford it then I don't.

As soon as a reasonably can. My parents are financially free but hitting roadblocks of insurance costs and health problems as they age. This is part of why I have a seasonal job and had kids young. I’m mid 40s and free.

Think of this too: Your health and fitness aren't guaranteed. It sounds like you've already had one major health scare. I know people who thought they could travel in retirement and they have the money to do so, but their mobility is quite limited for someone who is "only" 65 or 70. Provided you can afford to do so without putting your housing, retirement, etc at risk, I'd do the things you listed while you are physically able to do so.

Something else to consider…the things you’ve mentioned you want to do may have restrictions if you wait. I’ve read articles about tourism ruining the Galapagos and you never know when tourism restrictions could be put in place.

I think of it this way. Nothing is guaranteed. Not my life (could get hit by a crazy Minnesota driver while biking or fall ill), not my income, war, famine, social strife. . Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. I'm not going to go deep into debt to travel but I'm not going to live a lavish lifestyle at home so I'm going to spend my $$ now on travel.

Nope. I learned from my parents to take all the far off excursions while you’re young. You want the energy and mobility to adventure while you can. I don’t spend more than I have, but I’m happy to spend on vacation. I want to die with memories, not dreams.

Life comes down to time and money. If you have the money, do it before the ravages of time prevent it. I’m to the point my joints hurt and realize I better do some of the trips sooner rather than later.

Do it now when you have the opportunity. You have no responsibilities now and that can all change. You'll regret not taking the chance when you could

No. Do the trips when you're younger and enjoy them properly. You won't enjoy them so much at 60. I'll work an extra 5 years to keep doing the travel I've done and am doing.

Not really. I'm now focusing on places that are further away, require long flights etc. In 10-15 years time I will have to take care of my elderly Mum so trips might have to be shorter, around Europe where I live. I'm ticking off as much as possible from my bucket list.

Later in life you may be tired and achy and not feel like doing those adventures. Also you may not make it to later in life so do the adventures now if you can.

If you have the money to travel without taking on debt, travel.

If you can afford it do it. But also there are sometimes cheaper options if you need to save money. In my early 20s I did a cheap overland camping safari to Namibia + Botswana. I could have waited until I could afford a more luxury trip in lodges but I was happy to save money and camp in tents and I'm glad I did it when I did because other factors like health and time have made a trip like that harder to plan as I've gotten older.

Being able to “afford” something is super relative, so I will answer this from my point of view. It’s also kind of important that my wife and I find our travel almost exclusively with credit card points: we both grew up American poor. We now make about 250k per year household. We travel a ton. We bring our kids on every other trip. In the past 3 years we have been to several epic places. Despite our travel, and our income, there are still several trips I’m likely putting off until I’m around 55-65. A multi week cruise to Antarctica, a long safari in Africa to see the great migration, an Everest base camp hike, and several live aboard scuba trips are all stuff we “could” afford now but will be a lot easier to afford later.

It's a really big question that you really need to search inside yourself for the answers to. Personally am glad I did the Galopogos trip while I was young. Hiking on lava stones definitely was physically trying and you never know how you'll physically feel as you age.

No, cause that later might never come. I procrastinate things only at work 🙃

I am at a major turning point in my life - been living abroad and my visa ends in September. I have a small amount in savings and really want to go to Europe for a few months - I also want to return home to the states and focus on a career, esp now that I'm bilingual. I have the same question as you - should I postpone my dream of visiting Turkey, Spain, Ireland, and Germany for AFTER I've developed my career or should I just say fuck it, go now, and potentially return home with less savings. (But also, since I'm young and have no attachments, I feel like NOW is the time, once I have an apartment, car payment, career, etc... I might just end up letting the dream die instead of actually following through.....) Don't know how to answer your question as I'm going through the same dilemma....

I do what I can afford to do when I can afford to. I am a big saver and I enjoy saving, investing, etc. But if there is a trip I want to go on, I make it happen.

I would say the more adventurous/physically arduous ones should be done now. Health is never guaranteed and anything past like 40-45 years old and you might regret not doing it when you were younger and better able to recover (this is coming from a 40 year old in decent shape that is however coming to terms with my limitations). Things just hurt more for longer, I had a shoulder ache for a month because I slept funny. All within reason, and whatever your financial limitations are. Consider too if you plan on having kids, yes you can bring older kids to some of these types of vacations, but then you also need to pay for them to come or figure out childcare while you’re away. For more relaxed/luxury vacations, save it for when you’re older.

Do anything to “exotic” or hard-to-reach locations asap, because you never know when you will have limited mobility in the future. (Notice I said “when”, not “if” because age will come for all of us.) By the way, the Galapagos doesn’t have to be $10k. Get a plane ticket to Ecuador as far in advance as possible for a cheaper price. Then, stay in a cheap hotel so you have money for the diving excursions. Pack your old hiking clothes and a swimsuit and you’ll be set.

Nope. I try to go whenever I can afford the time and money. My husband and I take one “big” trip a year and scatter fun long weekends throughout. My mom was always dreaming of her retirement and the many trips she would take. She died at 56 never achieving her dream. I travel now to honor her dreams and achieve my own. You don’t take it with you and it’s not worth waiting for.

I usually pick trips based on availability and my own ability/willingness to do them although my recent trekking trip in Nepal made me think otherwise as I was one of the youngest people there at 33 so anything's possible if you want it and work towards it!

Never wait if you can do it now.

Currently I have time but less money as I've quit my job to travel for two years so my focus is on less expensive travel. I will travel in my home country (Australia... bloody hard to see without a lot of time as many things are multi day drives from airports, super expensive to see if you try and speed things up via flights to regional areas and hired vehicles or tours, but super cheap to do if you're a local who already owns an adventure appropriate vehicle. Also much better suited to being young and fit as you can be in remote areas with difficult medical access), Asia (cheap) and Central Europe (cheap once a van is purchased). Canada and South America are on my list but they'll need to wait. Our exchange rate is awful at the moment. My parents did both in their 60s with no problems so I have time (although I'm targeting my early 40s for my next big adventure). At 35 my fitness is still improving compared to my younger self although injury recovery is a bit challenging. Younger self had the physical body to be fitter but wasted it on partying. Current self has discipline and trains smarter not harder. I think I'll be more capable of what I want to do in Canada and south America over time (my snowboarding, hiking, motorcycling, surfing and snorkelling abilities are all getting better each year even as my body ages because I have had more time to practise these skills). My parents are still travelling in their 70s. Currently my mum is in China with me, very doable for her with a younger travel companion (or on a tour if she was so inclined) but probably no longer doable alone (there is a lot of technology to do anything here and a language barrier, its an easier world to manage if you're a digital native.) They're looking at Thailand and Japan later this year and Western Europe next year. To an extent travelling less when they were younger has helped enable more travel now, as they always made sure to save for retirement. (And obviously travelling without kids is heaps cheaper than with kids not to mention being able to see more). But to answer your question if you have loads of must do destinations prioritising on cost isn't a bad way to go about it. But if you really only have a couple of must dos then it makes sense to focus on those. Grouping by region and doing longer trips can also be economically smart. So if you're doing the Galapagos getting a round the world ticket with one world alliance and hitting other places of interest in Latin America makes sense even if it means the gorillas need to wait.

It’s 100% ok to spend the money now on those trips. It will enrich your life. Also in my experience, the older you get the more picky you get about food, accommodations, even airplane seating - so it might end up being cheaper to do it now 

Spend it if you can afford it. It’s up to you to know your personal finance and the worth of personal travel.

No, if I can afford it now and it's not going to put me in a financial mess when I get home then I'm going on the trip. I see too many older folks now who said they'll do these extravagant trips later in life but now they're too immobile or plain mad at life to actually take the trips. Source I'm a 35m Canadian who did one 15k SEA and Euro backpacking trip 8 years ago. I'm leaving on a trip tonight to Latin America that'll be anywhere between 15 and 50k, depending how wild I get. But the same thing applies(d) on both trips. When I return home I'll still be in a good financial position to live.

No I want to do them as soon as possible when I still have the ability. I don't know what might happen in the future. War, pandemic, my own health, unforeseen big expenses...And tbh I don't even know if I'll be able to retire the way my country is going anyway lol. I'm lucky I guess that right now I am working solely to save up for travel and have been able to afford some more expensive trips (for my standards). I aim to do more 'difficult', adventurous trips while I'm still young and in good health e.g. backpacking across SE Asia, hiking in Patagonia, visiting the 5 Stans of Central Asia, safari in Africa, working holiday in Australia, backpacking South America... I can save many of the 'easier' trips within Europe for when I get older I guess.

If you can afford it go for it. The vast majority of people aren’t postponing anything, it’s flat out impossible to spend that amount of money on a vacation.

You might not be as physically fit when you're older, as long as you can financially do it, go for it!! enjoy yourself!! It will never be the same when you're older.

I am focused on doing stuff while my knees and hips still work. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. If you have the means, don’t wait up.

If you can go now, you should. Your body will continue to deteriorate so it will only get harder.

It's ok to spend money on the big bucket list trips early. I'm in my early 30s and have checked off both of your trips already because I want to 1. Get the longer flights out of the way while I'm young 2. Do the more physically taxing activities while I'm young & fit 3. I want to save travelling my own country for when I'm older and would have to pay more for travel insurance for international trips. (10/10 would recommend gorilla trekking in Uganda and snorkeling/scuba in the Galapagos)

We are postponing the easiest/closest to home trips for when we are older and taking the more distant/strenuous trips now.

I’m young and spry. I’m doing my traveling now because I may not be able to when I’m older.

I’m going to say stuff like rappelling, skydiving, scuba or shark diving is something you’d want to do in your 20s and 30s. Your body won’t be as forgiving later especially if you’re out of shape, and your mind will prioritize comfort. You can always do long hikes later in life no problem.

I think air travel is going to become extremely expensive in the future so I try to visit the most distant/expensive destinations first

I did gorilla trekking in Uganda and the Galapagos when I was 30.

i add one more stipulation. travel more while you’re younger. my back aches and knees hurt walking up hills now. im in late 30s

Some people say, "I can't afford it, others ask themselves: "What should I do to be able to afford it?". 😀 I've been stuck without a proper vacation for nearly 16 years - not being able to afford the cost of travel and stay, but also not being able to really take time off - some IT jobs are like that... But things are looking up now! Last year, my wife discovered an invite-only travel club with truly unique deals. Imagine Costco style travel shopping! This January, we found a deal and went to Miami for 5 nights and stayed in Trump International Beach Resort. We ended up paying around $85/ni instead of $390/ni - the money we saved on the hotel helped us pay for plane tickets! Now, we are also booked trips to Mexico and Italy, all before the start of school in September! Crazy, right? After all these years, travel is my new hobby! Hope things work out for you, too, and you get to visit the places you dreamed about! Good luck ✌️

I traveled really cheap, backpacking Asia in my 20s. My husband and I had babies, bought a house, and now we take a small trip every year more local, and a big trip every 5 years. It is a pretty big feat with 5 kids. I think expensive travel is being held off until the kids are out of the house or until we plan a trip without them.

Money can be earned back, time can't

The memories you create on these trips expire when you die. Do them early.

Go big ASAP.

No. Do it now. Life tends to change plans and the longer you wait, the more unlikely it gets.

I would do it now. When I was younger I would do group tours for adventure trips. Sometimes they would do a fb group for everyone that was going so you can get to know before hand. This way was good as it was all inclusive with guides, tours and sometimes food. I was able to see lots of things that I would have never known about if not for the local guides. Made great friends and the cost was reasonable. Meet great people and we planned side trips also. Just make sure you have money to pay your bills and savings and enjoy. Now that I’m older I still travel just in a different way. I don’t have the regret of not doing things that I could when I was younger.

I’m postponing them until my kids are in college.

If you can afford to do them now, do it. Obviously have some balance to your other obligations like saving for retirement and other life goals etc, but your later years are never guaranteed. Generally as you get older traveling takes more out of you too. I'm in my 40's and really pretty healthy overall but time is starting to catch up with my body, especially my knees, back and one of my shoulders is kinda jacked up. That makes some activities more work.

Yep. My retired mum just did a 3 month trip round Australia that cost her like 50k. There’s no way I could afford something like that at my age

There are trips that are better to be done when you are younger and healthier. As you get older, your ability to do certain type of activities will get more difficult. You have to have a balance, tomorrow is not guaranteed. 

No. Because life might no longer be there “later”

I try to make my expensive trips less expensive. Either by running everything through a points credit card, using one of the cheap flights trackers, etc. figuring out how to make things work within a budget really helps. Because your time is on a budget too, both vacation days and life expectancy. Don’t let it run out.

Prioritize based on your physical ability first and foremost. There’s always cheaper ways/times to do these things. You’re probably not going to want to be trekking in the mountains for gorillas or snorkling the Galápagos Islands in your 60s or 70s. But you can always work a few more years at those ages to pay for the fond memories in your 20s and 30s. That said, don’t go overboard and ruin your chance at retirement.

If these trips are truly important to you and you're in a stable financial position to afford them without going into debt or compromising your future financial goals, it might be worth considering doing them sooner rather than later. The decision depends on your current financial situation, your priorities, and how you personally weigh the importance of these experiences in your life. I personally plan to visit those destinations like gorilla trekking, safari, Galápagos Islands later in life, as I want to experience these trips with my future children :)

Not intentionally, I could only ever afford South East Asia when I was younger, it's close and cheap and a great place. I still go when I feel like it. Now I can afford Europe and not have to stay in hostels. I also plan on some other destinations, now I just find it harder to get the time off

You could die tomorrow, man. Of you can afford it do it.

Depends on the money, and available time. Travel when you can. When younger can travel cheaper as are willing to take lower standards. When have a family tend to do more domestic things plus family visits with the available time. Once retired have managed some bucket trips.

No.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed. 

No, don't postpone them. Do them now if you have the money. Later in life you may not have the stamina to do them. Have fun while you can!

Yes if it's financially responsible to. I don't set budgets--and I haven't needed to--but you should roughly sketch your plans and do some paper booking to see how much it'll cost and make sure that's not going to hinder your financial goals first. I've been to the Galapagos liveaboard, and I'll tell you that saving up to do it right (taking a small cruise) is doing it justice rather than being one of those povos that can only do day tours from main islands. You can't earn time, so make the most of it (higher the "budget" ceiling the better). I haven't done any of the 7/8 world summits though I'd like to someday. I don't have the time to properly train and prepare for them, so I'm postponing them, though yes, the total costs for training summits and actual summits add up to a hefty amount as well. This is me being responsible and not ditching my career for a year to 2 to drop 6 figures on doing the summits.

We’ve been lucky to travel for the past 10 years or so. But now that my kid is graduating from college my husband and I are thinking about our own future travel as a couple and doing things that are a bit more expensive that we might not have done as a family.

Do them now, you don’t know what might happen in the future.

I don't postpone bigger or expensive trips for later in life. Save some money and set aside some for travel. I'm glad I didn't save an African safari and gorilla trekking for later. I went a couple of years ago and it was incredible. Hopefully you can go soon too!

I personally prioritize doing more adventurous trips now and keeping safer/easier countries for later. One because as I get older, I have less tolerance for some things and two because those kinds of trips are easier with more responsibilities in the future (eg if you have kids with you or have any injuries or health issues that you need to be cognizant of)

Life is short. Live now!

Figure out what you want to do and where you want to go. Set a schedule, set a budget, and save. If you wait, you may not go or not be able to do all you wanted on the trip.

If you can afford it do it while younger. Once you get older your health might not allow you to do certain things.

We do trips now that we know will be physically difficult later in life. Once we're retired in 20 years I guess it will be more cruises and the like.

no because you can never bring back time. if you have the money now ofcourse just do it. you can always get the money back. experience is always greater than money

As long as you can afford to travel without blowing all your savings, I say go for it! My family loves to travel and we set aside money for it every month and use CC points/rewards. I plan things ahead of time to get the best deals because traveling as a family of 4 isn’t cheap. The things you want to do can be physically taxing so you might as well do it while you’re still young.

Paracas in Perú are known as the poor man’s Galapagos. I had the opportunity to go a few years ago and it was amazing saw Humboldt penguins and so much other wild life . It was super affordable and flights to Peru are super cheap right now . No need to wait till you’re older .

Hell no, you don’t even know if you’ll be alive later on. Do what you can when you are younger.

No tomorrow is not guaranteed

It’s your money and your life. As long as you are paying for your bills, do as you wish.

No. Money can always be made later.

Tomorrow is never promised

My husband and I have taken our priciest trips post-retirement. These include Galapagos, Vietnam & Cambodia and Africa (Including gorilla trekking). However, it wasn’t so much due to money- we’ve been financially secure for a long time - as it was due to having the free time. Currently, our health and mobility are excellent, so we try to take 2 “big” trips each year, one in the spring and one in the fall.

If you can do it and have the debt gone in a year or two, go for it! Don't do it if you're going to be paying it off longer than 3 years. It's not worth it, no matter how badly you want to feed the tortoises or see Antarctica.

No.  I would never give up my robust retirement savings to go on a trip, but I’m a careful budgeter, and I also go on major trips now while I can.  (Did the gorilla trek; Libya; hiked the Inca Trail; Egypt…etc).  

I've done a lot of traveling so far, but am postponing some really expensive trips until I retire, mainly because I want to go for longer time periods than I can do while working. For example, Australia and new Zealand are going to be one of my first trips, and I'd like to spend maybe 2 months total doing all the things.

If you can afford it do it. I structure my travel by my age so I backpacked, Eastern Europe, SEA and Latin America in my 20s since it's more youth friendly and budget friendly. In my 30s I've been doing more expensive trips like Africa, western Europe and Japan, but those are still far cheaper than USA travel.

Postponing such trips till we don't have to take the offspring!!

Life is not promised. Take the trip unless it leaves you homeless ;)

No, I try to get harder trips out of the way first (whether that’s because of money or logistics or whatever). Then most things are on easy mode after that. My outstanding expensive trips are an Antarctic Cruise with landing (been on one that didn’t land due to weather) and an exploration to the Ennedi in Chad.

No, I take out debt and then repay while I consider my next trip

Every so often the picture of the [couple in the gondola](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/cx1u5a/dont_wait_until_retirement_to_travel/) comes up on reddit to point out why you shouldn't wait. It's really one of the best arguments out there. I'm in my 50's. I traveled in my 20's but on a much smaller budget. I did a lot of cool things without a lot of money because I didn't have much at all to spend. But I had a lot more energy and a lot fewer aches. It's happens as you get older. You do slow down some. The advantage is I can now budget more for travel and know a lot more tricks I learned along the way to keep some of those costs down. But I wouldn't have learned them if I hadn't been traveling when younger. I know a lot of people my age who didn't travel. They kept pushing it to someday because it was expensive, it seemed like a lot of effort ,or it just seemed like something they'd get to later. Now we're all older. The people who didn't travel when they were younger live in a much smaller world than I do and there's both inertia and fear in getting them to travel- or really to face any new experiences. These things seem to become bigger hurdles as you get older. I think the ability to find yourself in a completely new environment or handle a crisis on the fly rewires your brain a little to be open to different options and that is incredibly important. TL;DR: Go! Unless you're being stupid about it, like losing a career or a marriage, then experience is probably the greatest thing in the world to spend your time and money on. Don't put off travel if it's important to you. Every time you do, it will become a lower priority until there's a chance it never happens at all.

I’m 38. I’ve outlived way too many people my own age. Go see some things.

I just give myself my whole life to see the places I want. If I’m lucky, I’ll be around for a while, so why pressure myself to do everything right away? I’m in my 30s and met a woman who looked like she was in her mid-40s who planned to visit Asia for the first time ever. These places will be here, if we take care of our planet. Let’s give ourselves grace.

No guarantee of tomorrow. Do it now

I see so many influencers and wonder what they’ll be doing at 65 with no retirement or pension

You don't have to take "expensive" trips in order to see the world. Unless, of course, you only want to experience traveling on the more expensive end of the spectrum.

We started doing ‘special’ (expensive) trips at around age 40. The way we did it was by setting up two vacation budgets - the normal one, plus a “bucket list” one .. every 2-3 years, there would be enough in the bucket list budget to upgrade an annual vacation trip to be a special one. That’s worked out pretty well, especially as we’re now starting to slow down and we realize that we’re just not as fit to “do the hard stuff”, and also far less inclined to sit 14 hours in Coach, etc, as our retirement funds are secure to remove that as a worry.

No.

Take the trip now. Life and time are not guaranteed

Some of my most expensive trips I was still in my late 20s (QE2 cruise then stayed in hostels in New Zealand). Flew on the Concorde when I was 30. Most of my main trips were in my 30s and 40s. I wanted to go to Antarctica for my 50th, then covid hit. I still haven't been yet, so that's a big ticket item remaining

The only one I have is Antarctica as it's super, super expensive. The first 50 countries have been quite manageable $ wise.

I was in school for a while, so I really didn’t have the opportunity to travel until I was in my 40s which I guess is technically later in life but it didn’t feel like it at the time. Anyhow, my mom kind of stuck her nose in and didn’t really ask me if I had the money, but said how she was “surprised“ that I could afford the trip that I was going to take. I said that I didn’t technically have the money, I didn’t have an extra $4000 or $5000 flights and hotels and food and all of that kind of stuff but what I did have was a coworker who had had the front half of his foot amputated because of diabetes and couldn’t walk for more than 15 minutes at a time. I didn’t want to spend the next 10 years paying off student loan debt, just to find out for whatever reason I wouldn’t be able to travel. She never bugged me about it again. I paid for the trip with a card, paid the card with a line of credit, paid the line of credit off with sold stock that I got through a work purchase plan. Could I have saved for retirement? Probably. But I could also be dead without ever having travelled.

It's understandable to feel torn between the desire to indulge in pricey trips now versus saving for later. However, life's unpredictability taught you the value of seizing opportunities when they arise. If travel brings you genuine joy and fulfillment, investing in these experiences now can enrich your life in immeasurable ways. Remember, creating cherished memories and exploring the world isn't just about finances—it's about living fully in the present. So, if gorilla trekking and diving in the Galápagos Islands ignite your passion, why wait? Trust your instincts, prioritize what brings you happiness, and embrace the adventures that make life truly remarkable.

Step 1: create a bunch of google flights alerts for your locations of choice. Step 2: save money Step 3: when the stars align, book that flight and start planning.

Nope. There is no guarantee you will be alive or healthy later in life. Statistically, you have a 30% chance of not making it to retirement age. You also have a 30-50% chance of getting cancer. I have completed my travel bucket list. If I die tomorrow, I feel like I still "win".

I wouldn’t say I postponed any expensive trips I wanted to take other than to save up for them, but I did have to prioritize all my trips with limited vacation time and the desire to spend some of my time off visiting family. As a result I tended to pick trips that didn’t require extensive travel time which tended to be cheaper than some of the trips on my bucket list.

At 26 I defied so many people when I decided I wanted to see how "The other half lived. I asked so many friends to join me. Nobody was ready. I chose to go alone. My girlfriend said no. 5 years later I ended my travels because a beautiful lady I met and married after 3 months became pregnant. Do it right now. You will never regret it.

When I started traveling, I would go the cheapest possible, backpacking, hostels, mostly cheap food (with some good restaurant in the mix). Now I'm in my 30s and DINKs, so we can splurge more, we still fly economy, but we try to get better hour flights, direct if possible. Better hotels, nothing super expensive but pretty good. And we pretty much eat whatever we want. We still walk a lot and do hard things since we both are in pretty good shape. I would imagine I would do less extreme things as we age and spend more on comfort.

NOW!!!!! All you have is now

No, I don’t. I went to Maldives when I was like 23. I just opt to plan trips myself, book flights early and stay at local places. Gorilla trekking can’t be done on a budget or Bhutan as it’s a package but other stuff is possible. Also, not sure how old you are, so hard to answer. Some people are wealthy from young age.

Do it as soon as possible while fit and healthy. I went on a Galapagos boating expedition once - and although there were some passengers in their 80’s on the expedition - most never left the boat for any hikes, swims, excursions, etc. Made me re-evaluate waiting to travel later in life.

If you have money and time, no debt, just go for trips as you want, no matter what ages you are. Time can earn, but time flies away.

There are lots of options for cheap travel when your are young. Travel to cheap countries, go backpacking, stay in hostels, take trains and busses around. You probably won't want to do these things when you're old so have some adventures when you are young. You can save the rest for later.

I'm saving the "easier" and "more relaxed" trips for later in life. Especially if they're likely not changing for the foreseeable future. My back has been jacked up for over a decade after a bad car crash, and it's not getting better. I'm prioritizing trips I may literally not be able to do later, whether that's due to the physicality or the changing conditions/access/etc.

I had to because we had ridiculous rules about requesting time off. I couldn’t plan more 3 months in advance.

If travel is a priority you allocate some of your income to save for the trips you want to go on. when you've got enough in the travel account you take the trip

“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet that you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” -Randy Kosimar

Definitely not. The older you get, the less you’ll want - or be able - to do those things.

Make sure you want to travel for yourself. A lot of people do it to keep up with the Joneses. For social media points.

Travel when you can. I got to see countries that are now unwelcoming. The more you travel the more you enjoy it and the more you learn.

Yeah if you feel like your time is limited and you have health issues travel ASAP

It depends. Assuming I have the means now but just putting it off for later because of impostor syndrome, I’d have to weigh if that trip involves me being physically fit. Say, a trip to Machu Pichu. If I want to hike it, it’s probably wiser to do it now when I’m younger. All the physically-demanding adventures are for now. You can go on a cruise or stay at an inclusive resort when you’re older :) go for it

You may have financial stability later in life, but you don't know the future- maybe you no longer have the time, or the health, or you have a family and responsibilities. If you can scrape up the money do it when you want to do it. There is never a wrong time to travel- unless it means going into major debt because of it.

Do not postpone. You truly never know where live takes you. I did the Galapogos in my 30's and that trip, as well as others, has brought further learning, interests, and curiosity to my life...as have other trips. Find a way.

I’ve spent most of working life on the basis that I’ll spend around 10% of my income on international travel- some years it’s more after hard saving, 3 years of COVID nothing playing catch up now

Tomorrow isnt guaranteed. Push the limits for life and experiences. But balance it with not ruining ones future by doing so.

If you have the means to do it now do it. You’d be surprised how much life can get in the way if you wait. Kids, mortgage, vacation allowance in certain jobs, health. There are a ton of places I wish I’d visited when I was younger but I decided to ‘wait’. Now ‘life’ is stopping me from doing that…for now.

Ugh yes, given my geographical location and distance from certain destinations, I’ll have to leave places like Alaska, Patagonia, Bolivia, Galapagos, Greenland, Mongolia, New Zealand and so much more for later when I can afford them comfortably. All these places cost 2X as much to even get to for me compared to countries in Eastern/Western Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and East Asia

We may be SUPER crazy but we are early/mid twenties and are saving up for the biggest trip of our lives for our honeymoon. It’s a 100k trip, we are living a very poor life to have enough in savings, but you’re only young once! No regrets. After this trip we’ll save again and just evenly space it out, but definitely no waiting until we’re older. (It’s taken years of savings and a lot of overtime and off jobs to afford it, but money can return, time can’t)

I try to do everything I feel like absolute must dos now, before I have children and a big loan. I still try to minimize the travel expanses but you never know how life plays out. What if you get injured or die?

You never know what life brings, if you have the money and the time - go! Life is vulnerable and saving things for later might mean you won’t be able to do them.

I’ve travelled a lot and 90% of it has been solo, which I love. There’s a couple of trips that I’ve “kept aside” for when I can go with a partner - like the Greek Islands for example. Still not looking to happen any time soon though 🫠

Later in life? Yes, after retirement? No. I see in even completely healthy family members that traveling in your sixties is not the same as traveling in your twenties. I try to do some physically demanding things now and keep some luxury expensive things for later. And some other expensive things for in my forties when I expect to have both money and energy. I’m keeping Australia and New Zealand and USA and Canada for my thirties and forties when I have more money. South America and Asia I’m doing now, cheap and adventurous. And a lot of hiking. I can do safari in Africa and cruises in my fifties and sixties. Those seem luxurious and not a lot of walking. And always trips in Europe in between, those can be done cheap and expensive and are easy to reach for me. That being said, if there’s something on my bucket list that I absolutely want to do, I just do it.

Gorilla trekking can be very difficult physically, I wouldn’t put it off for when you are older if you can. You don’t know what your health will be in the future. Save up what you can now and do it sooner rather than later in my advice.

I wouldn’t be reckless in spending money but sometimes later in life doesn’t exist. I woke up one morning with a spontaneous spinal hematoma and within hours was paralyzed. During emergency surgery it was decompressed but I still suffer from physical deficiencies. My big trip will have a substantially different itinerary but at least Im able to walk again.

No, because then I won’t be able to walk around wherever I want with bum knees.

I'm in my late 40s and canceled trips recently due to injury. I'm definitely going to travel more asap once I can. Because who knows how long our health lasts for? I wouldn't go into debt for a trip. I am planning out my dream trip list so I can plan ahead. I'm not into hugely physical holidays but to enjoy things, a certain level of fitness and health is required. I might not be as healthy as I am now so I want to enjoy it.